book review

August Chapter Chats & Link Up

August 4, 2015

As I mentioned earlier this week in my goals post, July was a rough month for reading. Between all of our traveling and moving, I didn’t get as much reading done as I wanted to. But, I did get to finish two books during that crazy time and I’m happy to report that they were both winners!

Atlantia by Allie Condie - ★★★★- 4 Stars - I have read Matched and Crossed by this author and am in the middle of Reached right now. While those were okay reads, I really enjoyed Atlantia! The setting of this story takes place in a world where nuclear warfare ruined the Earth and in order for human kind to survive, a city called Atlantia was built under water. At the age of 16, every child gets to choose to sacrifice their wonderful life underwater to go to the surface and work. Bay and Rio are twins who promised to each other that they would stay in Atlantia, but one chooses to go to the surface last minute. This book is super creative, fast paced and has a great plot line, although there were some parts that seemed a little misplaced. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it!

Grilled Fish Tacos

July 21, 2015

*I received this product for free in return for my review. All opinions are my own*

Let’s real talk for a second: I haven’t been feeling my best lately, health wise. It’s a combination from a lot of travel, a lot of junk food and a lot sleep deprivation. I decided that I have had enough with feeling so crummy and getting such terrible headaches and that it was time to make some lifestyle changes when it came to my eating habits and how I was taking care of my body. I know I’ve got to do better; I’ve got to help myself out by taking care of myself.

So, I chose a cookbook from Blogging for Books to try out and review this month called Grill It, Braise It, Broil It. It’s actually a cookbook made and promoted by the American Heart Association, so I knew that this was my chance at getting my hands on some recipes that would be tailored to being good for my body. I was a little nervous about getting a cook book, since the baking one I got last month was WAY over my head in terms of techniques and time. However, this cookbook did not disappoint. Not only are ALL of these recipes extremely easy and doable, they are made with ingredients you normally have sitting around your house or ones you can easily buy from a grocery store. No weird ingredient hunting necessary!

[Read more…] about Grilled Fish Tacos

Blog Book Tour - Hausfrau + Giveaway

March 12, 2015

I received a copy of this book from Penguin Random House Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion. This post is powered by 20sb.org!

Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum is a novel about a woman named Anna. Anna is married to a banker and living in Switzerland with her kids. The book starts out with the single sentence: “Anna was a good wife, mostly.” This sets the tone for a whirlwind book that depicts a lonely and confused woman who is totally miserable with her life and slowly destroys it with a series of affairs.

Anna has lived in Switzerland for almost ten years and has yet to learn the language or get her license, resulting in her having to take trains everywhere. Anna struggles with isolation and self-loathing and turns to several different affairs to try to wake herself up. The consequences of these affairs are vividly written, and I do appreciate that the author made sure that Anna really struggled with the consequences and that her affairs weren’t painted as glorious or worth it.

While this book had some profound thought-provoking quotes and the character of Anna was well realized, I had a personal issue with the extreme sexual and foul language. It’s not on every page, but when it is mentioned, I found it to be graphic and vulgar and it was a major turn off for me. I also struggled with the prose and timing of events; it was hard to keep up with where Anna was and who she was talking to because there was no clear change of time in some of the spots.

Even if this wasn’t my favorite book of all time, it may be yours! Hausfrau hits the shelves on March 17th and Penguin Random House is providing me with another copy to give away!

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